Lou's Christmas Gift
by SnapShots.and.StoryPlots
Summary: As Christmas approaches, Lou finds herself feeling depressed and alone, but an encounter with a young mother brings her a new perspective on life.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: It Wasn't Supposed To Be This Way

Lou sat, alone, at the dining room table and stared at the slice of pumpkin pie in front of her. The room was dark, except for the light of three candles, and the house was quiet, except for the cold wind howling outside. It was late and everyone else was asleep. Lou had tried going to sleep, but she only tossed and turned, unable to turn off her mind and rest. She thought a slice of pie would be a comforting distraction from the thoughts that continually bombarded her. Yet, here she was, poking at the (otherwise untouched) piece of pie with her fork and giving in to the barrage of worrisome thoughts and painful memories.

Earlier, that same table, had been adorned with the nice tablecloth and the good dishes. Filling the spaces between the dishes were a huge turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, green bean casserole, and just about anything else you'd expect at thanksgiving dinner. In the middle was a large, apple-cinnamon scented red candle with two smaller candles on either side, surrounded by colorful autumn leaves. Seated around the table was the entire family, all talking and laughing and smiling. The only person missing was Peter, Lou's ex-husband.

Lou had, sadly, grown accustomed to Peter's absence, even when they were still married. He was always at work or traveling for work and, eventually, they had realized that they were rarely in the same place, both geographically and in their lives. They wanted different things, and had different priorities, and the time they did spend together was increasingly filled with heated arguments. They rarely had the chance to find solutions to their problems, because Peter always had to leave for work or some business trip, and their "discussion" would be cut short. "Discussion" was, of course, code for "argument", because Lou and Peter didn't want their two, young, daughters to know how bad things had become between them. Now, though, everyone knew how bad it was, because Lou and Peter had separated and then, finally, divorced.

Whenever Peter had been away during their marriage, despite any arguments they'd had, Lou had always felt the pain of missing him. Now, instead of it being easier, that pain was worse. Even though they were no longer together, Lou still cared about him, and in his absence she not only missed him, but missed what they had once had. She missed being a complete family and having a partner in raising the girls. She missed knowing that she wasn't alone and that she had someone there to care for and protect her. Of course, she still wasn't alone, she had four generations of family around her all the time and she knew that her grandfather and father would always care for and protect her. Still, it wasn't the same as having a husband, someone who had vowed to always be there and who loved her in a way that no one else did.

The tears began to come, no matter how hard Lou fought to hold them in. Had those vows ever meant anything to Peter? Did he really ever love her? After all, it had been Peter's idea to separate in the first place. She had wanted to fight for their marriage, but Peter was just too tired of fighting. Lou had never handled failure well, and now she felt she had failed at the most important thing- her marriage. Self-doubt crept in and convinced her that she hadn't been good enough for Peter. She wasn't worth his time or his love, and she hadn't been worth fighting for. He had more important things to do, and Lou just wasn't his priority. If it hadn't been for Katie and Georgie, they probably wouldn't have lasted as long as they did. Lou figured she would never see or hear from him at all, these days, if not for the girls.

Lou shook her head, as if she could physically shake the negative thoughts out of her mind. Deep down, she knew there was no truth to those thoughts, there couldn't be. Peter loved his daughters so much and they were definitely worth his time and love. Yet, in a way, he had left them too. Sure, he came to visit them, talked with them on the phone, and was always excited to have them visit him, but it wasn't the same anymore. Most of the time, he wasn't around. Lou couldn't understand how Peter lived day to day without seeing Katie and Georgie on a regular basis. That's when fear took a shot at her.

"Peter does love those girls and will do anything for them. It's only a matter of time before he tries to get custody and takes them away. One day, you'll wake up, and the girls won't be there, because they'll be living with Peter," fear whispered to her.

"No," Lou said aloud, "he wouldn't do that." The sound of her own voice startled her- breaking the silence around her and interrupting her thoughts.

"Great, now I'm talking to myself," she muttered. "I've lost my husband and my marriage, and now I'm losing my mind." Lou sat quietly, lightly jabbing her pie, but still not eating it. Silence settled over the room again, and invited the unpleasant thoughts to return.

Just hours earlier, Lou had been able to think of so many things she was thankful for. When they had sat down for dinner, they took turns sharing what they were grateful for and Lou's answer had come easily.

"I'm thankful for my beautiful daughters and that they get to be here, with me, today," she had readily shared. She was still thankful for that, of course, but it was a bittersweet feeling. Part of the reason she was so happy to have them now was that she knew she wouldn't have them later. She and Peter had decided that the girls would spend Thanksgiving at Heartland, with Lou, but on Christmas they would be in Vancouver, with Peter. Lou's stomach turned at the thought of spending Christmas without her daughters. She had been hoping it would be the other way around, but as usual, Peter had to travel and they had to work around his schedule.

This was the first Christmas since they had officially divorced. During their separation, they had been spending the holidays together, for the girls sake. Now, with the divorce final, Peter was ready to split the holidays up and take turns spending them with the girls.

"Is there any point in pretending that we're still together, when we obviously aren't?" he had asked.

Lou hadn't wanted to admit it, but she and Peter had continued to grow further apart and any time they spent together, trying to be happy, for the girls... it felt too forced, too fake. Peter was right. At this point, they were just pretending, and if she wanted a genuinely relaxing and pleasant holiday with Katie and Georgie, then Peter couldn't be there.

Lou hadn't found the courage, yet, to tell Georgie and Katie that they wouldn't all be together for Christmas and that they wouldn't even be spending it at Heartland. She didn't know how they would take it, but she assumed it wouldn't be good. Georgie, especially, loved being at Heartland and with the whole family. She loved her dad, too, but if she had to choose... Lou's stomach turned again. Why should Georgie, or Katie, or any child, have to choose which parent or family they'd rather be with? How could she and Peter be putting their own daughters through this, just because the two of them can't reconcile their differences? Lou's eyes stung as a, now steady, stream of tears ran down her face.

"How did we get here? How did we grow so far apart?" She wondered, silently. How could someone she had loved so deeply, now be the source of so much much pain? People kept telling her that, with time, it would get easier. She knew they meant well, but truthfully, she didn't want it to get "easier". She didn't want it to be "easy" to be apart from the man she had once loved and married, or to raise her daughters without a father who was always there, or to ask them to choose between their parents. It wasn't supposed to be this way and it wasn't supposed to be "easy". Lou just wished it didn't have to be this hard, either.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Invisible

Lou stared at the clock- it was finally 6:00 am. After crying over her pie, last night, she had finally returned to bed to try and get some sleep. She was so exhausted from mourning her failed marriage and worrying about Christmas without her children, that she was finally able to fall asleep.

Of course, it was not a restful or pleasant sleep. All of the negative thoughts from before had found their way into her dreams. One dream in particular had been very unsettling. Everything about it had looked and felt so real that even now, when Lou was awake, she wasn't sure if it had been a dream or if it had really happened.

In the dream, Peter had called and told Lou that the girls were going to live with him from now on. Lou begged him to change to his mind, but he refused. Suddenly, she was in the front yard, crying and saying goodbye to Katie and Georgie, except they didn't seem to even notice her. Peter arrived in a limousine, to pick them up, and both girls were so excited to see him. Georgie started going on and on about how great it was going to be to live in Vancouver with her dad. "You're not a nag or boring, like Lou- you're so much more fun to be with!" she excitedly told Peter, climbing into the limo without a single word or even a glance at Lou. Then, just before climbing in behind her sister, Katie turned toward her mother and came running. Lou felt relief and smiled as she bent down to hug her youngest daughter. When Katie reached Lou, however, she ran right through her. It was as if Lou was invisible or a ghost or something. Then, Katie ran back to the limo, with her toy horse in her hand.

"I can't forget Pogie!" She explained, "I would miss him too much!"

"What about me?" Lou asked, "Won't either of you miss me?"

No one had heard her. They all got inside the limo, laughing and smiling, and then they were gone.

Lou woke up, crying and shaken, but also relieved that it had just been a dream. Just to be sure, though, she got up and went to Katie's room. She quietly opened the door and peeked inside. The six year old was sound asleep in her bed, with Pogi right next to her. Lou smiled and carefully shut the door, so she wouldn't disturb her daughter.

After returning to bed, she couldn't fall asleep and wasn't so sure she wanted to, anyway. Instead, she just laid there, staring at the clock for the past hour. When 6 o'clock finally rolled around, Lou decided it was time to get up and start the day. She had plenty of work to do, since she owned two businesses and basically ran the Heartland ranch, too. The girls had school today, but Lou was hoping to spend the whole evening with them. There was a new movie out that was supposed to be good for kids, but a lot of teens and adults also seemed to enjoy it, so Lou thought the girls might like to go. It didn't really matter what they chose to do with their time, after such a rough night, Lou just needed some quality time with her girls.

As she was putting the finishing touches on her makeup, Lou looked in the mirror and smiled at herself. Today was a new day and she wasn't going to let her worries keep her down. There was still plenty of time before the girls would be leaving to stay with Peter, so there was no sense in letting it ruin the next couple of months.

After she finished getting ready, Lou headed to kitchen. She was the first one there, so she started a pot of coffee and thought about what to make for breakfast. Katie had been asking for pancakes, for a whole week, so Lou decided she would finally make some and surprise her youngest daughter. As Lou gathered the ingredients she needed, she heard giggling and talking, coming from the living room. The voices grew louder as they reached the kitchen. Lou's grandpa, Jack, and his wife, Lisa, came walking in, smiling and laughing. Lou was normally glad to see them so happy, but today their happiness just annoyed her. She knew it was wrong, but she didn't want to see any couple acting so "lovey-dovey", while she was feeling so alone and heartbroken.

"Good morning," Lou greeted them, with the most sincere smile she could muster, trying to hide her real feelings from them.

Jack cleared his throat and nodded in Lou's direction.

"Good Morning," they replied.

"I just started a pot of coffee," Lou informed them, as she returned to making pancakes.

"Good, I am ready for some of that," Jack replied with a chuckle.

"Oh, Lou! I wanted to ask you something," Lisa said, suddenly remembering a request she had.

"What's that?" Lou asked, cracking eggs over the mixing bowl.

"I read in the paper, that the art center is having a special art class for kids and their grandparents. It said there will be drawing, painting, and sculpting." Lisa explained, "So, I was wondering if I could take Katie?"

"That sounds fun," Lou replied, beating the eggs, "I'm sure Katie would love that."

"What would I love?" came Katie's voice, as she entered the kitchen, dressed and ready for school.

"Good morning, sweetie!" Lou turned to see her daughter, "Lisa wants to take you to an art class, where you can paint and draw and play with clay!"

"Yeah! I want to! When do we get to go?!" Katie was jumping up and down, excitedly, and grinning as she looked up at her godmother.

"It's tonight, from 5-7," Lisa told her, enjoying her goddaughter's enthusiasm.

"Yay!" Katie shouted, hugging Lisa's legs.

"Wait, To-tonight? The art class is tonight?" Lou stammered, looking at Lisa.

"Uh, yes, didn't I say that?" Lisa asked, feeling confused by Lou's reaction.

"No...no you didn't mention that small detail. I figured it was this weekend, or something."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Well, we don't have to go if it's a problem."

"Please, mommy!" Katie begged, "I want to go with Lisa!"

Lou took a deep breath, walking across the kitchen, and calmly spoke to Katie, "Sweetie, I was hoping to do something fun tonight, with you and Georgie. We could go see a movie or something." Lou took her daughters hand in her own, and asked, "Wouldn't you like to spend some time with mommy?"

"No!" Katie shouted, pulling her hand back and insisting, "I want to go with Lisa!"

Lou closed her eyes and took another deep breath.

"The art thing is only available tonight," Jack cautiously explained, "couldn't you go to the movie tomorrow night?"

"Yeah!" Katie agreed, "Art class tonight!"

Lou sighed in defeat. If she said no and made Katie spend the evening with her, instead of Lisa, then she would be the bad guy and no one would have fun, anyway. "Okay," Lou gave in, "you can go to the art class, tonight, with Lisa."

"Yay!" Katie squealed with delight, clapping and jumping.

"What art class?" Georgie inquired, joining them in the kitchen.

"Lisa is taking me to paint and play with clay, tonight!" Katie happily informed her older sister.

"Cool!" said Georgie, smiling and giving her little sister a high-five.

Lou smiled at her oldest daughter, enjoying how close she was with Katie.

"So, Georgie, how about you? Want to spend the evening with your mom, just hanging out?" she asked the 15 year old.

Georgie hesitated, debating between saying what her mom wanted to hear and telling the truth. "Um... I actually have some tests I need to study for," Georgie carefully answered, hoping that Lou would accept studying as a valid excuse.

"Oh. I see." Lou was disappointed, because she knew Georgie well, and she knew that "I have to study" was just her way of saying, "I don't want to do whatever you're asking me to do".

"I'm really sorry, maybe next time?" Georgie added, doing her best to actually sound sorry. Georgie loved her mom, but whenever Lou wanted to "hang out" she always tried too hard to make it fun, and instead, she always ended up making it awkward. Georgie's favorite memories of spending time with her mom were when the moments just happened naturally. Lou's a lot more fun to be around when she's relaxed.

"Sure, next time...Oh, hey! Maybe I could help you study!" Lou offered, realizing she was grasping at straws.

"No, no way!" Georgie answered quickly and honestly, "We've been there and done that, it did not go well."

"Oh yeah, that's right," Lou replied, finally giving up.

Georgie smiled, weakly, then looked at Katie and said, "Hey, are you ready to go? We need to start heading to the bus stop, or else we'll be late."

"Ok!" Katie said, happily following Georgie toward the door.

"Oh, Wait! I'm making..." Lou turned and looked at the bowl of half-prepared batter, "... pancakes." By the time she looked back, Georgie and Katie were already on their way out the door, Katie chatting about how she was going to paint a rainbow with Lisa.

"Would either of you like some pancakes?" Lou offered Jack and Lisa.

"No, thank you, Lou," Jack answered, "I'm just going to finish my coffee, then I have to get going. Lots of work to do around here, you know."

"Lisa?" Lou tried.

"Sorry, but I actually need to get going, too. I have an appointment to see a promising new racehorse," Lisa explained.

"No problem," Lou told them, trying to smile, "more for me."

Jack and Lisa smiled politely, told Lou goodbye, then put their coats on and walked out the door, arm in arm.

Once she was alone, Lou let out a deep breath and blinked back tears. Images, from her dream, flashed in her mind. "It's coming true," she whispered to herself, "my daughters don't even want to spend time with me. They'd rather be with anyone else, doing anything else." Slowly, she turned around and faced her mixing bowl. At first she considered just dumping the contents out, but then she changed her mind. She added the last of the ingredients, then picked up her whisk and began to take out her frustrations on the batter.

"What's wrong with me?" Lou wondered aloud, more tears forming in her eyes, "why doesn't my own family want to spend time with me? Why did my marriage fail? Why can't I just be happy? And why do I keep talking to myself?"

Lou set her whisk down, after a few minutes, and stared at the batter. She couldn't have mixed it together any more, if she had tried. She got a pan out and turned on the stove. While waiting for the pan to heat up, she decided that she needed someone to talk to, other than herself, as it was getting too hard to hold her feelings in. She pulled her phone from her pocket and called the person she knew she could always trust and share her problems with.

"Hey, Lou, what do you need?" came the answer, after a few rings.

"Hey, Amy, are you busy?" Lou asked her sister.

"Well, I'm doing my morning chores, out in the barn, why? What's going on?"

"Nothing," Lou falsely assured her, not wanting to spill her guts over the phone, "I'm just making a bunch of pancakes, but I have no one to share them with. I thought maybe you would like to join me for breakfast."

"I'm sorry, Lou, I can't," Amy apologized.

"Are you sure?" Lou asked, hoping she'd change her mind.

"Yeah, Ty has the day off. As soon as I'm done here, I'm going to make him some breakfast in bed."

"How romantic," Lou said, hoping it didn't sound sarcastic to Amy, but still feeling annoyed by all of the happily married couples around her.

"I guess," Amy laughed, shyly, and then explained, "he's just been working a lot and I figured he deserves some pampering."

"Of course, no problem. I'll just enjoy these delicious pancakes all on my own, then."

"Okay, well, I've got to go, I have a lot to get done before I can go relax with Ty."

"Right, well enjoy your day," Lou said, trying not to sound bitter.

"I will, bye!" Amy replied, cheerfully, before hanging up.

Lou continued making the pancakes, and continued feeling sorry for herself. Ty has been working a lot, but instead of causing problems, Amy and Ty seemed happier then ever. "How do they do it?" Lou wondered. Peter's busy work schedule was the biggest problem in their marriage. Lou sighed, thinking that maybe she should have made him breakfast in bed more often.

After the last pancake was done, Lou put a couple on a plate, and sat at the small, kitchen table. She drizzled maple syrup over her pancakes and then took a bite. Lou grimaced, as she attempted to chew the tough, rubbery hotcake. Then, giving up, she discreetly spit it into her napkin.

"If I had served these to Peter, he probably would have divorced me sooner," she mused, tossing the entire batch of pancakes into the trash. "At least I'm the _owner_ of Maggie's Diner, and not the cook," she added, staring at the pile of pancakes in the trash. Then looking at her watch, she reminded herself, "speaking of Maggie's, I need to get going!"

Lou grabbed her coat and purse and ran out the door. Going to work always made her feel better, because it gave her something to do and made her feel important. She was certainly looking forward to a distraction from all of the depressing thoughts and memories that had been haunting her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Things Heat Up

The sun was shining through the windows and filling the small apartment, above the barn, with natural light. Ty slowly opened his eyes and glanced at his clock, it was 9:07 am. He closed his eyes again and simply enjoyed the moment. He had been working a lot of hours at the vet clinic and didn't usually have entire days off. Having to work a lot was something Scott had warned him about, over a year ago, when he made Ty his partner. Yesterday and today, though, Scott had allowed Ty to have some time off, so he could spend thanksgiving with his family. It felt incredible to be able to sleep in and wake up slowly, instead rushing off to work before the sun was even up.

Ty took a deep, relaxing breath, and welcomed the aroma of eggs and bacon being prepared in the kitchen. Better than sleeping in, Ty loved having more time to spend with his beautiful wife, Amy, and he didn't want to waste it. He gently climbed out of bed and headed toward the sounds of a sizzling frying pan and Amy quietly humming. A smile stretched across his face as he watched his wife make breakfast. These days, He rarely had the chance take his time and simply watch his wife, as she went about her day. He wasn't about to take this moment for granted. As he walked up behind her, he slowly slid his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Good morning," he whispered in her ear.

Amy smiled and leaned into her husband. "Good morning," she returned the greeting, "Did you sleep well?."

Ty held her tighter, "That was the best sleep I've had in a long time, thank you for letting me sleep in," he answered, softly kissing her face and neck as evidence of his gratefulness. Amy giggled as Ty's unshaven face tickled her.

"You deserve it," she told him, regaining her composure. Turning to face him, but never leaving his arms, she added, "You've been working so hard and I want you to know that I'm proud of you. You've turned out to be an amazing vet and an incredible husband... I love you." Amy smiled and gazed into Ty's green eyes. She often wondered how she'd been so lucky, to marry a man like Ty Borden. They'd been through a lot over the years and there were times it had seemed they would never be together, but in the end their love for each other had prevailed. They had overcome many obstacles, together, and shared plenty of happy moments, too.

"Well, it helps that I have such an amazing and supportive wife," Ty explained, placing his hand, gently, on Amy's cheek. "I couldn't do any of this without your love and encouragement." Ty leaned in, closing his eyes, and then pressed his lips to hers. With his other arm, he pulled her closer, until there was no space between them, then guided her as they moved away from the hot stove, never losing contact. Another thing Ty loved about having time off of work, was that he could kiss his wife without being rushed or interrupted. He wanted to savor this moment and take his time. His movements were slow and gentle, as he simply enjoyed their closeness and he allowed himself to forget about the world around him.

Mornings, like this one, were rare these days and Amy felt lucky if she even got to see Ty, before he left for work. To have an entire morning to themselves was special and Amy planned to make the most of it. She basked in Ty's embrace, leaning deeper into him. With her hands resting on his chest, she could feel it rise & fall with every breath and she could feel every beat of his heart. There was no where else she wanted to be right now. Completely wrapped in Ty's arms, she loved how he was strong, yet gentle, and how made her feel safe and cared for. She knew that he would do anything for her and Ty always treated her with love and respect. She could trust him and that allowed her to be open and comfortable with him. They knew each other's likes and dislikes, and after years of practice, these moments together were more graceful and natural. As Ty held her close, Amy was able relax and allow any worries or stress to melt away. As long as she was in her husband's arms, all was right with the world.

Amy felt herself suddenly getting warmer and her own heartbeat began to quicken. An alarming realization came to her and she instantly pulled away from Ty. She turned her head and gasped, panic quickly replacing the good feelings she'd had, just moments ago. It didn't take any time for Ty to figure out what was going on. He pulled her further away from the stove, then grabbed the fire extinguisher. Amy watched, frozen in place, as the grease fire burned their breakfast and threatened to burn their kitchen. Ty removed the clip, from the extinguisher and aimed at the base of the fire, feeling the heat on his face and arms. He squeezed the trigger and in seconds the fire was gone. He quickly turned off the stove, then he just stood there, for a moment, catching his breath and staring at the pan full of burnt food and foam.

"Are you okay?" he then asked, going straight to Amy and wrapping her in his arms again, but more protectively this time.

"Yeah," she answered, not taking her eyes off of the stove, "I'm fine."

Ty kissed her head and reassured her, "It's out now and it doesn't look like anything was damaged... well, except our breakfast." Ty looked at Amy, making sure he made eye contact, and then smiled to show her that everything was okay. Amy took a deep breath and allowed herself to smile in return.

"I'm glad you were here," she admitted, resting her head on his chest.

Ty kissed the top of her head. "Me too...although, if I hadn't been here, you wouldn't have been so distracted in the first place," Ty said with a soft laugh.

"That's true," Amy agreed, and with a smirk added, "so this is really your fault, not mine."

Ty laughed, glad that Amy's sense of humor was returning. "I'm sorry I ruined breakfast. How about if I make it up to you and we go have breakfast at Maggie's?"

Amy thought about Ty's offer, then replied, "I have a better idea, how about if we have _lunch_ at Maggie's, instead?"

Ty looked, curiously, at his wife and asked, "Okay, so what do you want to do before then?"

"Well," Amy began, taking Ty's hands in her own, "you actually started _two_ fires in that kitchen..."

" _I did_?" Ty asked, playing along.

"Yes," Amy confirmed, beginning to lead her husband across the small apartment, "and now that the unwanted one has been put out..." Amy's voice trailed off as they reached their bedroom. She pulled her husband close again, and kissed him, continuing where they had left off.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Marriage is Hard Enough

"Here's your coffee, sir," Lou said, smiling and handing the drink to an older gentleman. Being at work was just the distraction that Lou had needed. It was only lunchtime and she was already feeling a lot better. Here, people needed her and even enjoyed seeing her. She may have failed at being a wife, but when it came to running a business (or two or three), Lou felt pretty successful. She glanced around the small diner, recalling when she had purchased it a few years ago.

The previous owner, Maggie, had been a good friend of the family. Her daughter, Soraya, had been Amy's best friend. After Maggie and Soraya moved to London, though, the diner was put up for sale. It broke her heart to think of what a new owner might do to the beloved, local hangout. Lou couldn't just let it go without a fight. This place held too many memories and had been too important to the whole community of Hudson. The building had existed since 1902, and Lou wanted to get it recognized as a heritage site, so at the very least, it couldn't be torn down or completely renovated. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to be easy and she was running out of time. Lou had found out that her dad, Tim, was ready to buy the diner and turn it into some awful buffalo burger franchise. Lou couldn't stand the thought of letting Maggie's be turned into something so impersonal, even if it was her own father running it. She knew she had to do something, so...she decided to buy it herself.

Lou frowned, remembering that her wanting to save, and then buy, Maggie's had caused tension between her and Peter. They had bought an old farmhouse, but before they ever moved in, it burned down from faulty wiring. Peter was set on using the insurance money to buy a new house and wanted to focus on their house hunt. Lou, however, was more focused on saving Maggie's, and she wanted to use the money to buy the diner, seeing it as an investment. The other truth, however, was that Lou loved living at Heartland, and didn't really want to move. That had also caused problems in her marriage, as Peter couldn't wait to move out of the ranch and have a home of their own.

Lou's eyes began to water, but she refused to let herself actually cry- not at work. She grabbed a napkin and, facing the back wall, so not to be seen, she wiped her eyes and then took a deep breath. Work was supposed to be distraction from her problems, not a painful reminder of them.

She was relieved to hear the ringing of the little bell above the door, because it meant a customer had just arrived and she would have something else to think about. She put on her best smile and turned around, ready to greet whoever had just come in.

"Good afternoon, welcome to Maggie's," Lou greeted the young couple, who had just arrived.

"Hey, Lou, how's it going?" Amy asked, smiling, as she and Ty sat down at the counter.

"Everything's great," Lou answered, wishing it was true, "What are you guys doing here? I figured you'd be spending the day at home...alone."

Amy gave her older sister a knowing look, then said, "We thought it'd be nice to go out for lunch."

"Ya, after what happened to our breakfast, this seemed like the safer option," Ty added, but then regretted after seeing the look Amy gave him.

"What happened to your breakfast?" Lou asked, curious what Ty could have meant.

"It's not a big deal," Amy assured her, "we just... overcooked our food."

Lou stared at the couple then, asked, "Mm hmm... So, what really happened?"

Sighing, Amy admitted, "I was making breakfast and I got...distracted...then, our food kind of... caught on fire."

Lou's eyes got big as she leaned on the counter, "What?!"

Ty quickly explained, "Nothing was damaged, we had a fire extinguisher and I put it out right away."

"Wow. Well, I'm glad you're both okay. I've heard grease fires can get out control really fast."

"Well, thankfully, Ty reacted quickly and knew just what to do." Amy smiled at her husband, placing her hand on his shoulder.

Ty returned the smile and, looking at Amy, said, "I was just protecting my wife."

Lou was truly grateful that Ty had kept Amy safe and that they were both fine. Seeing how they looked at each other, though, all "in love" and "carefree"- she couldn't help but feel a little jealous.

"It must be nice to have a husband who loves and protects you." Lou muttered, under her breath. From the way Amy suddenly looked her and the questioning look on her face, Lou realized her sister had heard her.

"Are you sure everything is ok?" Amy asked, staring suspiciously at her older sister.

Lou nodded and quickly changed the subject, "So, what would you both like for lunch?"

Amy stared at her for a couple more seconds, without saying a word, then turned her attention to the menu.

Ty wasn't sure what was going on, but he had sensed the sudden change in the women's moods. He then decided it would be best to just order his food and stay out of it. "I'll have the vegetarian chili and an ice water, please." he told Lou, handing her his menu.

"That sounds good, I'll have the same." Amy said, smiling again.

After Lou collected their menus and left, Ty turned and took his wife's hand, "I love you," he told her, smiling and gazing into her eyes.

"I love you, too," she replied, also smiling, "It's been nice having you to myself today."

"I was thinking, maybe after lunch, we could go for a trail ride," Ty suggested.

"I would love that, let's do it!" Aside, from the small kitchen fire that morning, Amy thought today was going perfectly. She knew that, come tomorrow, Ty would be back to working long hours, so she wanted to enjoy every moment with him until then.

"Two vegetarian chilies and two ice waters," Lou announced, setting the food in front of them, "Enjoy!"

Lou went to tend to other customers and Amy and Ty enjoyed their chili and casual conversation. As they were finishing eating, Ty's phone began to ring. He pulled it from his pocket and looked at the screen.

Standing up, he told Amy, "It's Scott, I'd better take this." Amy nodded and then he went outside to take the call.

When Ty returned he looked disappointed. "What's going on?" Amy asked, not sure she really wanted to know the answer.

Ty sighed and informed her, "I need to go to work."

"What? Why?" Amy questioned him, "this is your day off."

"I know, I'm sorry, but it's an emergency. A truck full of sheep ran off the road, into a big ditch. Scott needs all the help he can get."

Amy just stared at her bowl for a moment. She knew it wasn't Ty's fault and that he needed to go, but she was still upset that their day together had suddenly been cut short. "Okay," she finally told him, "go save the day." She tried to smile, but it was harder than she expected.

Seeing that his wife was struggling with the sudden turn of events, Ty hugged her and kissed her head. "I owe you a trail ride," he whispered, "I really am sorry...I love you."

"I know, and I love you too," Amy whispered back. "Now go on, Scott needs you."

"Do you want me to take you home first?" Ty asked.

"No, thanks, I'll stay here. I think I need to talk to Lou." Amy told him.

Ty smiled and nodded, then headed to his truck. Amy watched him go, then tried to finish what was left of her chili.

When Lou noticed that her sister was sitting alone, she went to find out what had happened. "Hey, where did Ty go?"

"There was an emergency, so he had to go to work," she explained, trying to act like it wasn't a big deal.

"Oh, Amy, I'm sorry," Lou said, giving her a hug. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, just... disappointed, I guess." She answered with a half-smile.

"It sucks when your husband works all the time, doesn't it?" Lou asked, sitting on the stool next to Amy.

"Yeah, it kinda does." Amy agreed.

Lou felt badly for her sister, knowing all too well how she was probably feeling. At least Ty came home every night, unlike Peter. Lou thought back to her first year of marriage, when she and Peter lived on two different continents in completely different time zones.

"I just hope you both handle it better than Peter and I did," Lou said.

"What do you mean?" Amy wondered where her sister was going with this.

"I just mean that marriage is hard enough, but when you never see each other, well, it's practically impossible." Lou explained.

"Wow, well, thank you for that encouraging thought," Amy replied, sarcastically.

"I'm sorry," Lou apologized, "I'm just trying to warn to you, so the same thing doesn't happen to you and Ty. I swear, Peter's work and long business trips are what caused most, if not all, of our problems and it certainly didn't help solve any. I just don't want you to end up feeling alone in your marriage or like Ty's job has become more important than you."

Amy sat quietly, mulling over her sisters words. Then speaking up, she looked at Lou and said, "That won't happen to us. I won't let it happen, and neither will Ty."

Lou looked at her sister, carefully planning her words before responding, "I thought the same thing, when Peter and I were first married. We were so in love, that I thought we'd always find away to work things out. I knew that his job was important to him and that traveling was apart of it. I figured I'd be busy enough running the dude ranch and Heartland, that I'd be able to deal with it. After a while, though, it became a problem. He was just never around, you know? He was always away, working, and he wasn't there whenever I needed him. We didn't have enough time together, to focus on each other and our marriage. His job always came first, the girls came second, and I..." Lou's voice trailed off, as her eyes began watering again.

"Lou," it was Amy's turn to comfort her sister. She put her arm around her and asked, "This is what's been bothering you, isn't it?" Amy had known something was wrong, but until now, she hadn't been able to figure out what it was.

Lou nodded, sniffling and wiping her eyes. Lou knew the diner wasn't the best place for it, but she couldn't wait any longer- she needed to talk to someone. So, she decided to tell Amy everything. "Peter is going to have the girls for Christmas, so I won't be able spend it with them. Can you imagine? Christmas morning, and I can't see my own daughters faces as they open their gifts and I can't listen to them laughing and singing Christmas songs, or enjoy hot cocoa and Christmas cookies with them, in front of the fire. It's always been my favorite holiday, but this year I'm dreading it. I know we can just do it all on another day, but it's just not the same. Everyone else will be celebrating and enjoying their families and I'll just be be missing mine."

"Lou, I had no idea. I assumed you and Peter would spend Christmas together with the girls, like you did last year."

"I wanted to, but Peter insisted that it wasn't the best way anymore. We put on fake smiles, and pretend everything's fine, but as soon as no ones around, we're back to arguing about every little thing. Neither of us really want to spend our Christmas that way. Then, again, I don't want to be spending mine alone, either."

"You won't be alone, Lou. The rest of us will be there with you, "Amy tried to encourage her.

"I appreciate that, I do, but it still doesn't change the fact that Katie and Georgie will be a thousand kilometers away, celebrating Christmas without me."

The two sisters sat quietly together. Amy wanted tell Lou that everything would be fine, but she knew that was a promise she couldn't keep. Honestly, she was afraid, herself, that she'd be spending Christmas without Ty. Since it was still over two months away, they didn't know yet if Ty would be working or not. She felt for her sister, and how hard it must be to not be able to spend with Christmas with your husband or your children. At least, for her, Ty wouldn't be far and they'd see each other for part of the day. Lou would be without the girls, completely.

"I should never have married Peter," Lou finally said, breaking the silence.

Amy stared at her, wondering if she had heard her correctly. "You don't really mean that, do you?"

"Yes, I mean it." Lou confirmed, "Peter and I... we had no business even being together, in the first place. We were wrong for each other right from the start."

"But, Lou, think of how your life would be different. If you hadn't married Peter, you would never have even had Katie," Amy reminded her, "Wasn't marrying Peter worth it, at least because of her?"

Lou looked at her little sister, wondering when she had become so wise. "Okay, that's true. I love Katie so much and I can't imagine life with... without my little girl," Lou admitted, her voice cracking.

"And Georgie?" Amy continued, "Would you have been willing to adopt an 11 year old girl, if you were single and not a mom already?"

Lou thought about it and shook her head, allowing the tears to come. "No," she confessed, feeling guilty, "I probably wouldn't have even considered it."

"But, you love Georgie and you're glad you adopted her, right?" Amy pressed.

"Yes, of course," Lou answered.

"You and Peter used to be in love, you just told me that, and you chose to marry him for that reason. Even if it didn't work out the way you'd hoped, it wasn't all bad."

Lou considered what Amy had said, drying her eyes with her hands. "I don't know. I mean, yeah, I'm glad that I have Katie and Georgie and, at one time, I thought I was in love with Peter and that I wanted to be with him, forever, but..." Lou stopped.

"But, what?" Amy encouraged her to finish.

"But... every memory that comes to me is... painful. Even when we first met, in person, and I found out that he owned Bedford Oil... I told him that it couldn't work between us... that he stood for things that made my blood boil," Lou shook her head, then continued, "He wouldn't listen, though. No, instead, he just kissed me, as if that would make everything okay... and I was stupid enough to believe it would."

"Lou, you're not stupid-"

"I am, Amy, I'm stupid. How else did I end up here?"

"Lou, stop! You are not stupid. Marrying Peter wasn't a mistake, even if it didn't turn out how you planned. You have to stop focusing on all of the bad memories, and try remembering the good ones instead."

"How? When I think of Peter and our marriage, I think of how he was always away and how I always felt alone, and when we were together we argued more than anything else. It's funny, you'd think this would be easier, because it's not like divorce is really any different from when we were married." An ironic laugh escaped Lou, as she continued, "I rarely saw him then and I rarely see him now. In fact, during our whole separation, not much was different. It was easy to pretend that nothing had really changed. Now, though...now he wants the girls to himself on Christmas, and I know this won't be the only time. That's what makes all of this feel real. I'm divorced- Peter and I are not together. Instead of raising our girls together, we have take turns and pass them back and forth. It's not fair to either of them, and I feel terrible about it. I haven't even told them, that they'll be in Vancouver for Christmas and that I won't be there with them." Lou began to cry harder, "I hate this, Amy. I hate everything about this. I completely failed at being married and now the girls have to pay for my mistakes. I feel like such a screw-up." Lou put her head in her hand, still crying, and now shaking from all of the heartache she felt.

Amy hugged Lou, tightly, holding back tears of her own. It pained her to see her sister so miserable, and she felt helpless, knowing that she couldn't make it better. When it came to helping horses that had been abandoned or hurt, she was known as the "Miracle Girl". Right now, though, her own sister was in need of some kind of miracle, and there was nothing Amy could do.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Whatever It Takes

As Lou got ready for bed, she thought about the conversation she'd had with Amy earlier that day. It had felt good to finally tell someone how she'd been feeling and to have a shoulder to cry on. Something her sister had said, kept playing over and over in her mind. If she hadn't married Peter, they wouldn't have had Katie and Georgie would, probably, have been sent to live in yet another foster home. Despite all of the anger, confusion, and hurt, that her marriage had led to, it also brought her two amazing daughters, both of whom she loves and deeply cares for. Maybe Amy was right about something else, as well- maybe if she focused on the good memories, instead of the bad, then she would feel better.

So, as Lou climbed into bed, she began to remember all of her favorite moments with Katie and Georgie. She pictured Katie as a tiny baby, lying in her arms.

She had been born in the very bed Lou was laying in. Lou hadn't been able to make it to the hospital, so she had an unplanned home birth, and Katie was delivered by Amy and Ty (with help from their dear friend, Mallory). Peter was at a meeting, but he made it home, just in time for the actual birth. Lou smiled, remembering how Peter had been there, even when she thought he wouldn't be. Once again, tears formed in her eyes, but unlike before, these were happy and welcome tears.

Lou continued to replay any happy memories she could think of. She reminisced about Katie's first words and first steps, the day Georgie showed up at Heartland, as a runaway, and the day she and Peter had decided to adopt her. She even recalled the moment when Peter proposed and then their wedding day.

Just as Lou was beginning to drift off to sleep, the unpleasant memory of when she and Peter decided to separate, entered her mind and pushed the happier memories out of the way. It brought with it, the memories of how Georgie reacted to the news of their divorce, of the fights they'd had, and of how Peter would be taking the girls away from her at Christmas. As hard as she tried, Lou couldn't stop the sudden onslaught of bad memories. Every good memory she tried to think of was quickly replaced by a bad one. Lou groaned and buried her face in her pillow, realizing that focusing on the positives was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

* * *

Amy shivered and pulled the blankets tighter around her. She looked at the empty half of the bed, and wished that Ty was there to wrap his arms around her and keep her warm. He had called her earlier, to let her know that he would be home late and she shouldn't wait up for him. She had tried to wait up anyway, but she kept nodding off on the couch. So, around 10pm, she finally gave up and decided to go to bed. As tired as she was, though, she couldn't fall asleep. For twenty-two years, she had slept alone, with no problem. Now, though, after only one and a half years of marriage, sleeping alone was almost impossible. Amy closed her eyes and tried to relax, but she kept remembering what Lou had said earlier, about how her marriage failed because Peter worked so much, and how she hoped Amy and Ty wouldn't share the same fate. Suddenly, Amy felt even more alone than a moment ago. What if her marriage did go the same way as Lou's? What if Ty got so wrapped up in work that he lost interest in her? Amy rolled over, trying to escape such thoughts.

"That would never happen," Amy quietly assured herself. "Ty isn't like Peter, we'll be fine." She refused to let herself even consider the possibility that her own marriage could be at risk. She wiped away a stray tear and rolled back over to face Ty's side of the bed. She pulled one his pillows over to herself and hugged it; she could smell his cologne on it and the familiar scent brought a smile to her face.

She was finally falling asleep when the sound of footsteps woke her up. Slowly, she climbed out of bed and looked into the living room. "You're home," she said, with a sleepy smile.

Ty was taking his boots and coat off; he looked over at his wife and returned the smile. "I would've called, but I thought you'd be asleep and I didn't want to wake you."

"I couldn't fall asleep without you next to me," Amy explained, as she crossed the room toward her husband.

"I'm sorry," Ty apologized, placing his hands on Amy's shoulders and kissing her forehead. "I would much rather have been here with you... trust me."

" _Really?_ " Amy asked, sounding unsure. She wouldn't normally have asked, at all, but she still couldn't get Lou's words out of her head.

Ty furrowed his brow and looked at his wife, wondering why she would ask that. Reassuringly, he answered, "Of course, really. You know I wanted to spend the whole day with you. I was just as disappointed when I got called in to work."

"I know... I'm sorry," Amy replied, quietly, shifting her gaze to the floor.

Ty gently placed his hand under her chin and lifted her face toward his, so he could look into her eyes. "Is something bothering you?"

Amy debated, in her head, between telling Ty what was on her mind or just avoiding the subject and acting like nothing was wrong. Taking a deep breath, she chose the former, "I talked to Lou, today. She's really struggling with the divorce, especially because Peter is going to have the girls for Christmas."

"Okay, I'm sorry to hear that, but what does that have to do with us?" Ty asked, trying to follow along and understand.

"Well, she mentioned that the reason they had so many problems and their marriage ended, was because Peter was always at work and they didn't have time for each other. She feels like Peter cared more about his job than he did about her."

Ty was beginning to understand what Amy was concerned about. He pulled her into a hug and whispered in her ear, "You will always be more important to me, than my job."

Amy nodded, "I know, it's just that..."

"Just what?" Ty asked, pulling back, to look into her eyes, once again.

"Well, you've been working so much, and I don't get to see you as much as I'd like. I miss you and I guess I'm worried that we're not getting enough quality time together . Even when you are home, we're both so tired that we can't really enjoy the time we do have together." Amy's lip began to quiver, "And I hate going to bed alone, but it's been happening more and more, because your either working all night or just not getting home until really late."

Ty sighed and ran his fingers through Amy's long, blonde hair. "I'm sorry and you're right. Honestly, I've been feeling the same way," he admitted, "You will always be more important to me than my job, but it's true that work has been taking up a lot of my time...our time."

"I just don't want to end up like Peter and Lou," Amy confessed, in a shaky voice, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Neither do I," Ty said, wiping a tear from her face, "and I will do whatever it takes to make sure we don't."

Amy managed a smile and wrapped her arms around Ty, resting her head on his chest, "Thank you. I'm willing to do whatever it takes, too," she assured him.

Ty kissed her head and held her tight, "I love you so much, Amy. I've come close to losing you before, but I promise- I'm not ever going to let you go. We're in this together... till death do us part."

Amy closed her eyes and listened to the beating of Ty's heart. Deep down, she had known she had nothing to worry about, but hearing Ty's promise filled her with a new sense of peace.

The couple stood there and simply held each other, neither wanting to be the first to let go. After a few minutes, though, Ty couldn't stop a short laugh from escaping his lips.

"What's so funny?" Amy wanted to know, lifting her head to look at her husband.

Ty shook his head and grinned, then asked her, "You really thought I'd rather spend my day with a bunch of scared, injured, smelly sheep- instead of being at home and relaxing with my amazing, beautiful wife?"

Now Amy laughed, "Okay, when you put it that way, it sounds kind of silly." It felt good to be able laugh together and Amy was glad she had been honest about her feelings.

Ty was happy to see Amy's smile again; it felt good to be home and to hold his wife in his arms. Chasing and treating sheep had been an exhausting job. As Ty drove home, all he could think of was going to bed and getting sleep, but after talking to Amy, he felt refreshed. Being close to her was relaxing and comforting; he could feel the stress of earlier melting away. He felt badly that she had doubted how important she was to him. Most days, it was knowing that he had her to come home to, that allowed him to face the challenges of his job. Ty loved Amy with all his heart; no one else, and especially no job, could replace her in his life.

"So, since our marriage is important and we agree that we need to spend more quality time together..." Ty began, bringing his face closer to Amy's, until their foreheads were touching, "maybe we should start making up for lost time...like right now." He gently pulled her closer and began kissing her neck.

"I would really like that," Amy replied, grinning, "but, I need you to do something for me first."

"Anything," he promised, looking into her eyes, then gently kissing her on the lips.

Amy released herself from the kiss, so she could speak, "I need you to take a shower," she said, "because you smell like a bunch of sheep."

Ty dropped his head and laughed, then looking at his wife, he asked, "What? That's not a pleasant scent?"

Amy shook her head and took a step back, "No, it's really not," she said, laughing and waving her hand in front her nose.

"It's not?!" Ty acted shocked, "But, I worked so hard to smell like this! Maybe you just need to get used to it," Ty suggested, playfully, as he grabbed his wife, wrapping her completely in his arms and squeezing her tightly.

Laughing harder, Amy struggled to get away, "Ugh, you smell so bad. Let me go!"

"No way! I just promised I would never let you go," Ty teased.

"You're getting your stench all over me!" Amy complained, in jest, and pretended to gag. "Now, I'm going to need a shower, too."

Ty grinned and kissed his wife on the cheek, then whispered in her ear, "That's what I was hoping you would say."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: Surprise Visitor

"Christmas Tree! Christmas Tree! Christmas Tree!" Katie shouted, skipping through the house and clapping her hands.

"That's right! We're going to go find the perfect tree today!" Lou told her youngest daughter. She loved that Katie was so excited; she couldn't resist smiling and laughing as she watched her little girl, who was now dancing around and singing "Jingle Bells". The past month and a half had been hard for Lou, but right now life was good. Katie's Christmas spirit was contagious and Lou wasn't going to let her day be ruined by worries or stress. She had two and a half weeks to spend with her daughters, before they went to Vancouver, and she wanted to make the most of it. After all, Christmas was more than just one day, right? It was a whole season and there would be plenty of fun Christmas activities for Lou and the girls to do together. The first of those activities, was going and getting the perfect Christmas tree. Lou looked at the corner of the living room and pictured a tall, full tree that reached the ceiling. She imagined the three of them carefully decorating it, while smiling and laughing. She couldn't wait to get started making special memories together.

"Why do I have to come? I don't care what kind of tree you pick. It's freezing, and I'd rather stay home." Georgie complained on her way down the stairs from her attic bedroom.

Lou closed her eyes and clenched her jaw, drawing in a deep breath. "Do not let her get to you," she thought to herself, relaxing her face and releasing the breath. Turning, to face her oldest daughter, she explained, "Because, I want to make the most of this Christmas with both of my daughters. Picking out a tree, bringing it home, and decorating it, is the most basic Christmas tradition. Also, this is important to me and to Katie, so I would appreciate it if you could at least pretend to be happy, and not ruin it for the rest of us." Lou stared at Georgie, as if she could will her to see it the same way.

Georgie returned the stare and crossed her arms, "Well, I'm sorry, but I don't want to go. Why can't you just take Katie and let me stay home?"

Lou walked over and gave her daughter a hug, saying, "Because, Georgie, you are a part of this family and I love you and I want to spend time with you." She released Georgie from the hug, then smiled and added, "It's going to be fun, I promise."

Georgie rolled her eyes and sighed, finally conceding to her mother's wishes, "Okay, fine," she began walking toward the front door, "Let's get this over with."

Lou tried to ignore the teenager's attitude, and turned her attention back to her youngest, "Come on, Katie, let's get your coat and boots on."

"Okay!" Katie replied, unfazed by her sister's mood. She grabbed Lou's hand and practically dragged her to the mud room.

As they were getting ready to go out, the front door opened. "Hey! Who's ready to get a big Christmas tree?" Lou's dad, Tim, asked with a huge grin.

"Hi, Grandpa, I'm ready!" Katie answered, gleefully.

"I thought you would be," Tim said, giving his granddaughter a hug and lifting her off of the ground.

Katie giggled and hugged him back, "Now, put me down, please! I need my boots on!"

Tim kissed her cheek and set her back down. "How about you, Georgie? Excited to pick out a tree?"

"I guess I have to be," the teen said, flashing a fake smile at her mom, then walking out the door.

Tim moved out of her way and looked at Lou, "What's her problem?"

"Oh, you know," Lou buttoned up her coat, "she's 16 and I'm forcing her to spend time with her family."

"Well, why do you have to be so cruel?" Tim joked, giving her a hug.

Lou smiled and said, "Thank you for coming to help out today, I really appreciate it."

"No problem, I love spending time with my family, so thank you for inviting me."

The three of them went outside, where Georgie was waiting on the bench, playing on her phone. She stood up, still staring at the small screen, "Are you finally ready? It's freezing out here!"

Just then a black SUV came down driveway and pulled up in front of the house. Everyone just stood on the porch, watching to see who would get out. As a man climbed out of the backseat, Katie went running toward him, yelling, "Daddy!"

"Dad!" Georgie perked up and followed after her sister.

"Did you know The General was coming to town?" Tim inquired of Lou.

Lou couldn't believe it; she had completely forgotten that Peter was coming to visit this weekend. She crossed her arms and shook her head, "I should have, but it must have slipped my mind."

Lou could hear Katie telling Peter all about their plans, "We're going to buy a Christmas tree today and then we're going to decorate it!"

"Are you coming with us?" Georgie asked him, "Mom never even mentioned you were visiting this weekend."

"She didn't?" Peter asked, looking up at his ex-wife, who was now walking toward him. "Hi," Peter gave Lou a stiff hug, "why didn't you tell the girls I was coming?"

"Um, I guess I forgot," Lou confessed, "I'm sorry."

"I see," Peter wanted to say more about it, but he knew this wasn't the time or place. Lou had been more distant, lately, and he had a feeling she was mad at him for something. "So, you're going Christmas tree hunting?"

"That's right, General," Tim answered, before Lou could, "we, as in the four of us," he pointed to himself, Lou, and the girls, "are going to get a tree and you-"

"- Are welcome to join us," Lou forced herself to say, hoping it would make up for forgetting about his visit.

"What?" Tim looked at Lou, who ignored his stare.

"I don't know, it's your thing and I don't want to intrude," Peter tried declining the invitation, hoping to avoid the inevitable awkwardness.

"But, you're here to visit us, so you should come," Georgie said.

"Yeah! Come with us Daddy," Katie chimed in, hugging Peter's leg.

"Are you sure it'd be okay?" he checked with Lou.

"Of course, why wouldn't it?" Lou could think of plenty of reasons why Peter shouldn't come, the main one being that she wanted the girls to herself. "Besides, the girls obviously want you to come along, so how can you say no to that?"

"Alright, then I guess I'm coming," Peter announced, lifting Katie up and hugging her. Both girls were excited that he decided to join them.

Tim leaned in and whispered to Lou, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Lou whispered back, "No, but I don't have much choice." Putting on her best, fake smile, she looked at the girls and clapped her hands together, "Okay! Who's ready to go get a tree?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Perfect Christmas Tree

"Here's a nice one!" Peter said, pointing out a tall, slender tree.

"Great, let's buy it," said Georgie, eager to get to back home.

Lou glanced at the tree and then kept walking, "No, too skinny."

Peter sighed and followed behind the others; they had been here for two hours and Lou had turned down every tree that anyone suggested. He tried to keep his thoughts to himself, but this was getting ridiculous, "Really, that one was too skinny? You said the one before it was too fat."

"It was." Lou replied.

"You've found something wrong with every single tree here; too tall, too short, too fat, too skinny, too green, not green enough-"

"Okay, we get it," Tim snapped, "I thought you didn't want to intrude."

"I didn't."

"Good, then don't." Tim still wasn't sure why Lou had invited Peter along, in the first place.

"Mommy, I'm hungry," Katie said, holding her stomach.

"Yeah, me too," Georgie agreed, "when are we going to be done here?"

Lou was getting frustrated with the way this day was turning out, but she tried to remain positive, "We'll be done soon, okay? We just have to find the perfect tree, then we'll go get some lunch."

"You're never going to find a perfect tree," Peter said.

"Oh, is that so, General?" Tim was growing more irritated with his ex-son-in-law, "I thought I just told you to keep your opinions to yourself."

Peter cringed, he hated it when Tim called him 'General'; of course, there were a few names he wanted to call his ex-father-in-law, "Alright, you know what Tim, I've had enough of your-"

"Okay, both of you, just knock it off," Lou stepped between them, her arms stretched out to make sure they stayed apart, "This is a big tree farm and there are still more trees to see, so if you don't mind, I'd like to keep looking." She put her arms down and walked toward another tree. She began testing the branches, to see how fresh the tree was, "Maybe there aren't any truly 'perfect' trees, but I'm going to get one that's as close to perfect as possible."

Peter stood next Lou, away from Tim, and quietly said, "It's just a tree, Lou."

"No, it's not," she shook her head, wiping needles off of her hands.

"Why are you making such a big deal about a tree?"

"The tree is the centerpiece of Christmas. It's the biggest decoration and sets the mood for the holiday. We decorate it together, then everyone gathers around it to open gifts and just be together. Since I don't get to actually be with my own daughters on Christmas, I'd like the rest of the season to be as perfect and memorable as possible, is that really too much to ask?"

"So, that's what this about. You're mad at me for having our daughters on Christmas."

"I'm not mad at you," Lou lied, "We both agreed on this plan, so why would I be mad?"

"I don't know, Lou, but something is obviously bothering you."

"The only thing bothering me, right now, is not being able to find the right tree. So maybe, if you would stop distracting me, I'd be able to find what I'm looking for."

"Mommy, what about this one?" Katie asked, standing a couple of trees away.

Lou was thankful for a reason to end this conversation and walked past Peter to see Katie's tree. "Wow, that is a nice tree, sweetie," Lou looked the tree over, then pulled out her measuring tape and checked the tree's height. "I'm sorry, Katie, we're looking for one that will reach the ceiling and this one is too short."

"Oh," was all Katie said, clearly disappointed that the tree hadn't been good enough.

"Seriously, Lou?" Peter couldn't believe she would care more about a tree than her daughter's feelings. "I think this tree is perfect, Katie-Cat, you did a good job," Peter bent down and gave his daughter a high-five.

"So can we get it?" Katie asked, turning to her mom and clasping her hands together, under her chin.

"Um, you know what? How about if Grandpa takes you to get hot chocolate and cookies, and daddy and I will discuss it?"

"Okay!"

"Is that okay, dad?" Lou asked, turning toward Tim.

"Yeah, no problem, who doesn't want cookies and hot chocolate for lunch?" Tim took Katie's hand and then looked at his older granddaughter, "Come on Georgie."

Georgie had been texting friends and not paying attention to what was going on. "What?" she asked, not looking up from her phone.

"I said 'come on'," Tim repeated, then he grabbed her shoulder and steered her toward the path to the snack stand.

Lou watched until the girls were gone from her view, then she looked straight at Peter and asked, "How could you do that?"

"Do what?" he asked.

"You just had to make me look bad in front of Katie, didn't you?"

Peter laughed, though Lou didn't see any humor in what she had said. "I'm sorry, Lou, " he said, becoming serious again, "but you made yourself look bad."

"Excuse me?"

"I seriously can't believe how selfish you are."

Lou took a step back, "What are you talking about?"

"You care more about a stupid tree," he said, smacking the nearest pine tree, "than you do about Katie's feelings."

"I do not!"

"No? You just told your six year old, that the tree she picked wasn't 'perfect' enough for you. Did you even notice how disappointed she looked?"

"I am just trying to find the best tree for them-"

"For them? Or for you? Because, Katie doesn't care if the tree is perfect and, I guarantee, Georgie doesn't care if there's a tree at all. You're the only who cares, and you'll make everyone else suffer until you get what you want."

"No one is suffering-"

"How do you know? You're so wrapped up in yourself-"

"Just stop, Peter"

"You don't ever think about how anyone else feels."

"That is not true," Lou crossed her arms, "I care very much about how others feel."

"Quit lying to yourself, Lou, you know I'm right. You only care about one person- yourself."

Lou opened her mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come out. How could Peter say these things? Did he really think she was like that?

"You know why are our marriage failed, don't you?" he continued, taking advantage of her silence, "Because you always had to have things your way. There was no compromising, you never took what I wanted into consideration. You always did whatever you wanted without ever asking for my opinion. You drive everyone around you crazy, nothing and no one is ever good enough for you-"

"Tell me the truth," she interrupted, as her thoughts finally formed into words, "why did you even marry me? Did you ever really even love me?"

Now it was Peter who couldn't speak. "Lou, " he began, hoping the right thing to say would just come to him. When it didn't, he turned his head to avoid the despondent stare of his ex-wife. He noticed a young couple laughing as they looked at trees together. The young man whispered something to the young woman, which elicited a kiss from her. Peter, looked at Lou, but only from the corner of his eye. He tried to remember what it was like when they were first dating or how he felt when he proposed or on their wedding day. He wanted to tell her that he had loved her, but after all they had been through, he was no longer sure. Had he really been in love?

He continued to look at anything else, except her, as he attempted to answer her questions. "I thought I was in love with you, I really did, but now..." He heard a painful gasp, that forced him to actually look at her. He couldn't see her face, since she was staring at the ground, but the shaking of her shoulders revealed the emotion she was trying to hide. He wasn't sure if he should continue, but then figured it was better to be clear about his feelings. "I don't know, anymore, Lou. I don't know if I loved you or just the idea of you. I know that I thought I was in love." Peter wasn't sure if he was making sense, as even he was confused by his own feelings.

Lou pressed her hand against her forehead, trying to ease her throbbing headache. She stared at the snow, around her feet, and wished that she hadn't asked Peter for the truth. As heartache and rejection mixed together inside her, they created another emotion...anger.

Peter watched Lou, unsure of wether he should try comforting her or not. He stepped toward her, and was about place his hand on her shoulder, when he noticed that she had become still and quiet. "Lou, I'm sorry..."

Lou looked up at Peter and the change in her face startled him, causing him to step back and keep his hands to himself.

Lou was done letting Peter ruin her day and her Christmas, and she was done feeling weak and helpless about it. He thought she was selfish? He thought she disappointed Katie? He thought she was making everyone suffer? Lou drew in a deep breath, as she prepared to put Peter in his place.

"Are you okay?" Peter asked; he didn't like the way she was looking at him.

"No, Peter, I'm not okay. How dare you stand there and tell me that I'm selfish and I'm the reason our marriage failed and how I disappointed Katie. When is the last time you took a good, long look in the mirror, huh? Because, as far as I'm concerned, you are the one who is selfish, and a disappointment, and the reason our marriage failed."

"Okay, Lou, calm down," Peter said, putting his hands up, as if to surrender.

Lou stepped toward him, pointing at him, "You have always put yourself first and you have always wanted to have your way. I told you, on our first date, that this wouldn't work and you wouldn't take no for an answer. Now, I find out you never even loved me, so apparently all of these years with you have just been a waste."

"That's not true. I told you, I really thought I loved you-"

"It is my turn to speak!"

Peter scratched the back of his head and avoided eye contact with the other people who were staring and whispering.

"You're the one who only cares about yourself. Do you have any idea how much you have hurt Georgie, or Katie, or... me? Or have you been too focused on your stupid job to notice? You think Katie is disappointed, because the tree she picked was too short? How do you think she feels every single time she has tell her father goodbye, so he can go back to his other life in Vancouver, a life that doesn't include her?" Lou's fists tightened as she felt her self-control slipping further away.

"And Georgie... After all she went through as a kid, losing her parents in a car crash, being separated from her brother, then passed from one foster family to the next..." She hated thinking of everything her daughter has been through, "She finally found a family and had a mother and father again, and then you went and ruined it."

"Hold on! I ruined it? I don't think so. We both decided to get a divorce, Lou, you are as guilty as I am-"

"I wanted to fight for our marriage, for our family, but you wouldn't even try!"

"I did try-"

"No, you didn't! You fought harder to save a failing Bedford Oil, than you did to save your failing marriage. But, I guess that make sense, seeing as work has always been your first love."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"You know exactly what it means. You have always cared more about your job, than you have about your family. That's why you never had time for us, and still don't."

"You are way off, Lou. My job is important, because that's how I support my family-"

"It takes more than money to support a family, you know. It takes love and time and commitment. You have to actually be there, be a part of your family's life-"

"I have been part-"

"No, you haven't! You're...you're like a distant relative that visits on occasion. If you really cared about Georgie and Katie, you would find another job, any job, that allowed you to be closer."

"It's not that simple-"

"Yes, it is! You do not have to work 11 hours away-"

"Okay, yes, my job is important to me and I don't want a different one, but that does not mean I love my family any less."

"Well, Georgie and Katie are the ones paying the price, so you can keep your precious job. They're the ones who miss out on having a full-time dad. The next time Katie asks me where daddy is or why he doesn't visit more often, I'll let her know just how much you love your job."

"That's not fair-"

"I agree, it's not fair. It's not fair that you get to live two different lives. The life of a high-power executive and bachelor, living in the city, doing whatever you want, and the life of a dad, who gets to come home and play with the kids, without any of the responsibility of actually raising them each and every day. It must be so nice to be able to choose which life you want to live on any given day."

"Wow. I don't know what to say," Peter ran his hand through his hair, "I work hard to support my family, I make time in my busy schedule to be with my family, and I would do anything to protect my family, but I guess it doesn't matter what I do or how hard I try, because I will never be good enough, will I? I'll always be like these stupid Christmas trees, never able to meet your ridiculously high standards. You want perfection and I'm not perfect."

Lou looked at the Christmas trees that surrounded them; they were becoming less of a symbol of peace and joy and more of a reminder of what was wrong with her life. Looking back at Peter, she said, "Maybe you didn't really ever love me, and maybe that's why it was so easy for you to leave." Lou made sure she had Peter's full attention, before continuing, "I believed you, though, when you said you loved me. I trusted you, when you vowed to be there for me, no matter what. I really did love you, Peter. You have no idea how much it hurts," Lou paused, to catch her breath, "to think we've gone from being husband and wife to... enemies."

Peter moved closer to Lou, making sure she was the only one who could hear him, "I'm sorry, Lou. I guess I failed as a husband and as a father, and I'm sorry I ruined your outing with the girls. It's obvious, you don't want me here, so, I'll make this easier on both of us and just leave. After all, that's what I do best, isn't it?"

Without another word from either of them, Peter turned and walked away. Lou stood there with her arms wrapped around herself, shivering and weeping, as she watched Peter disappear, down the long aisle of Christmas trees.

"Are you okay, Ma'am?... Ma'am?"

Lou jumped when the older gentleman put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, I didn't mean frighten you."

Lou wiped her eyes and tried to smile, "Oh, no, it's okay, you just surprised me."

"Is everything alright?"

"Yes, everything is fine," Lou tried to sound believable.

"Well, is there anything I can do for you?"

Lou noticed the man's name tag and answered, "Actually, Norman, I'd like to buy a tree."

"Well, sure, do you have one picked out?"

Lou pointed to the first tree she saw, "That one."

"Alright, I'll get it cut and wrapped for you," Norman said with a genuine smile, "then I'll meet you up front and help get it loaded onto your car."

"Thank you so much," Lou said.

"Oh, and could I get your name?"

"Lou Fleming-Morris," the 'Morris' part caught in her throat.

"Okay, Ms. Lou, feel free to stay and have some hot cocoa and cookies and your tree will be ready when you are." Norman tipped his hat and then went to get his saw.

Lou made her way to the snack stand to find her dad and the girls. Once she reached the stand, she looked around, until she saw the three of them sitting on a bench enjoying their drinks and cookies. Whatever Tim was talking about must have been funny, because Katie was laughing so hard, she almost spilled her drink, and even Georgie had a smile on her face. Lou made her sure her eyes were dry and took a deep breath, before heading over to her family.

"Mommy!" Katie yelled, jumping up and running to her, as soon as she saw her.

Lou hugged her daughter, "Hey, sweetie, are you having fun with Grandpa?"

"Yup! He's funny!" Katie said, then looking around she asked, "Where's daddy?"

By now, Tim and Georgie had joined them and were wondering the same thing.

"Um, daddy had to leave..." Lou tried to explain.

"Why?" Katie's face was serious now.

"Uh, well, he thought it would be better that way." Lou didn't know how to tell her six year old that her daddy had left, because he couldn't get along with her mommy.

"But... he didn't say goodbye..." Katie's bottom lip began to tremble and Lou could see her eyes glisten with tears.

"Katie, I'm sorry," Lou told her, giving her another hug.

"He left because of you, didn't he?" Georgie crossed her arms and glared at her mother. "Why do you always have to fight with him?"

"Georgie, I-"

"Forget it, let's just get out of here," she said, storming off.

"I've got her," Tim said, following after the teenager.

Lou took Katie's hand, and wiped fresh tears from her own eyes, "Come on, Katie, let's go home."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Said Too Much

Amy was taking advantage of the quiet morning at the ranch, to get some work done in the barn office. Paying bills and filing papers were her least favorite jobs, but if she had to do them, mornings like this were the best. Lou, and their dad, had taken the girls to find a Christmas tree; Ty was working; Jack and Lisa were spending the weekend at Fairfield; and she had already finished the morning chores. No one was around to distract her or give her an excuse to avoid the task at hand.

She sipped her tea and added some numbers together on the calculator. It would seem, as much as she and Ty had been working, that there would be more money in their account, but it still wasn't as much as they'd like. It was no wonder her mom had always avoided talking about the finances or why Lou was always so stressed out. She took another sip of tea and sifted through some papers. She knew they had some clients who hadn't paid yet, so she figured she should make some phone calls.

Finding the paper for one such client, she picked up the phone and began dialing their number. Half way through, though, she heard someone come into the barn and start banging around. She hung up the phone, and quietly went to see what was going on and who was in the barn. Standing in the office doorway, she watched as Georgie flung open the door to Phoenix's stall.

"Is everything okay?" She asked.

Georgie jerked her head toward Amy and put her hand on her chest. "You scared me."

"I scared you?" Amy asked, walking toward her niece, "You were making so much noise, I thought maybe a bear had gotten in here." Amy smiled, hoping to relieve some of the tension.

"Sorry, I'm just having a bad day," Georgie explained, as she got Phoenix ready to be brushed.

"Oh? Why's that?"

"I don't want to talk about."

Amy grabbed another brush and, without a word, began brushing the white horse, alongside her niece.

"Lou's driving me crazy," Georgie shared, after a few moments of silence, "why does she always have to ruin everything?"

Amy stopped brushing and asked, "what exactly did she ruin?"

"Well, for one thing, she forced me to shopping for a stupid Christmas tree. I wanted to hang out with Adam and Jade, but she said this was more important. I don't know why any of us had to be there, anyway, she didn't like any of the trees they had and she didn't care that the rest of us were cold and hungry."

Amy continued to brush Phoenix, as she listened to her niece without interrupting.

"Then," Georgie continued, "she must have gotten into another fight with Peter, because he suddenly left, without even saying goodbye."

"Wait, Peter was there? Lou never mentioned that he was visiting this weekend."

"He showed up, just as we were leaving, and Lou claims she forgot about his visit."

Amy noticed that the angrier Georgie got, the harder she brushed, "Okay, take it easy," she said, gently stopping Georgie's hand with her own, "So, why do you think there must have been a fight?"

"Why else would Peter have just taken off? He had just got here and said he was here for the weekend."

"Maybe, he got called into work?"

"I don't think so. It was obvious Lou had been crying and she didn't say anything the whole way home."

"Okay, but still, you don't know that it was Lou's fault."

"You think it's Peter's fault, don't you?"

"I don't know..."

Georgie began brushing harder again, "I should've known you'd take Lou's side. She has all of you thinking that Peter is the bad guy."

"That's not true-"

"He's a good dad! He may not be perfect, but he loves us."

"I know he does... and so does Lou."

"Then why does she always try to keep us from him?"

Amy put her brush down and faced her niece. "You don't really think that, do you?"

Georgie kept brushing her horse, and didn't answer.

"You know, you should really cut Lou some slack, none of this is easy for her either."

Georgie stopped brushing Phoenix and looked at the ground, "I know, it's just that..."

"Just what?" Amy asked, putting her hand on the girls shoulder.

"I miss him so much," she said, turning and allowing her aunt to hug her. "I hardly see him anymore."

Amy let her niece have a moment to just cry, before saying anything else. Once she seemed to be calming down, Amy spoke, "I know it's hard growing up without a dad. Mine was gone for ten years, and I never got to see him that whole time. My mom and I were very close, but even she couldn't fill that void in my life. And Lou... Lou has always been a daddy's girl," Amy paused, to let her words sink in, "I'm sure that all those years, without her dad in her life, were really hard, too."

Georgie thought about what her aunt told her. "So, you're saying that Lou knows how I feel?"

"I'm saying that you should talk to her and tell her how you feel, because she'll understand. Then, maybe, you can work through this together, instead of making it harder for each other. Lou loves you so much, and I promise that she is not trying to ruin your life."

"I don't know..."

"I really think that's the best thing to do."

Conceding, Georgie said, "Okay, I guess I can try talking to her." She went back to brushing Phoenix, more gently this time, and then added, "I'm still mad, though. I was really looking forward to seeing Peter this weekend."

"I know," Amy said, "but, at least, you'll see him again in a couple of weeks, when you go spend Christmas with him."

Georgie stopped brushing her horse and looked at her aunt. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"Um..." Amy realized that she had said too much, "Lou hasn't told you, yet, has she?"

Georgie threw her brush on the ground and ran out of the barn, "I can't believe this! Why doesn't she tell me anything?"

"Georgie! Wait!" Amy yelled to her niece. She started after her, but then looked back at Phoenix. She hurried to return him to his stall, hoping she still had time to reach Georgie, before Georgie reached Lou.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: Could It Get Any Worse?

"Well, at least we won't need to get out the ladder, to put the star on top," Tim said, staring at the Christmas tree that was barely taller than Lou.

"Very funny," Lou replied, unamused by her dad's comment.

"I think it's cute!" said Katie, "Can we start decorating it now?"

Lou sighed, wondering if this Christmas could get any worse. She looked from the pathetic, little tree to Katie and smiled. Peter was right about one thing, it seemed, Katie didn't care what the tree looked like. "Yes, Katie, now we can start decorating."

"Yay! Decorating time!" the little girl cheered, jumping up and down. She followed her mom to the boxes, that were sitting on the dining room table, and watched as she took off the first lid. Lou

pulled out an ornament, wrapped in newspaper, and carefully unwrapped it.

"These ornaments are fragile, that means they break easily," she explained to Katie, "so we need to be very careful with them, okay?"

"Okay," Katie answered, not taking her eyes off of the shiny, red ball.

Lou showed Katie how to hold it and then Tim helped her hang it on the tree. As Lou watched Katie, she said, "Too bad Georgie is mad at me or she would be here too."

"She'll be here," Tim assured her, "she just needs some time cool off."

Lou was handing the next ornament to Katie, when they heard the front door open and immediately slam back shut. Lou turned around, just in time to see her oldest daughter coming her way, and said, "Hey, are you ready to help decorate?"

Walking right up to her mother, Georgie crossed her arms, and demanded to know, "When were you going to tell us that we were going to dad's for Christmas?"

"Um..." Lou was caught off guard, she still hadn't figured out the best way to tell the girls; now, apparently, someone else had beat her to it.

"We're going to daddy's?" Katie asked.

"Who told you about that?" Lou asked Georgie, wondering if she had spoken to Peter.

"It doesn't matter, what matters is that it wasn't you!" Georgie argued.

"I was going to, I was just waiting-"

"Waiting for what? Why can't you ever just tell us anything?"

"I'm sorry-"

"Just forget it, I don't want to talk to you right now. The sooner we go to dad's the better," Georgie said, going up to her room, then slamming her door shut.

"Katie," Tim said, getting the little girls attention, "how about if you and I go play in your room for a little bit?"

"What about the tree?" Katie asked, she had been so excited to finally decorate it and didn't want to stop.

"Don't worry, we'll come back and finish it in a little bit," Tim promised, taking her hand and guiding her to her room.

Lou just stood there, wondering if she should go talk to Georgie or wait and let her calm down. She was about to go up the stairs when she heard the front door open again.

"Georgie?" Amy called from the mud room, as she took off her coat and boots.

"Amy?" Lou responded.

Amy came walking into the living room and saw Lou, standing at the bottom of the stairs. Cautiously, she asked, "Did Georgie already talk to you?"

"Yes, she did... Did you tell her about Vancouver?"

Amy hesitated, then confessed, "Yeah, I did..."

"Amy! Why would you do that?"

"I'm sorry, I thought she already knew."

"Well she didn't. Neither of them did, but now they both know, thanks to you. I can't believe you told her."

"I said I'm sorry, I wouldn't have told her if I had known-"

"But you did tell her, and now she's even more mad at me than before."

"That isn't my fault-"

"You know, if you would just mind your own business..."

As Lou continued on, Amy regretted coming into the house. She knew her sister was going through a hard time, and she was sorry she had made it worse, but she still felt like Lou was overreacting. She had done whatever she could to help Lou and be there for her, but now she was being told to mind her own business?

"... Why do I even tell you these things? You've never been able to keep a secret-"

"Okay, that's enough! I already told you I'm sorry, so you can stop blaming me, especially when you're the one who screwed up."

"That's right, because I'm the one who screws up everything-"

"That's not what I said-"

"It's what you meant-"

"No, I just meant you should have told them yourself, a long time ago."

"You know what, I'm sorry I'm not as perfect as you. So, why don't you just go back to your perfect loft, and your perfect husband, and your perfect life, and stay out of my life."

Amy couldn't figure out why her sister was so mad at her, "I have only been trying to help you-"

"Well, you're doing a lousy job of it, because Georgie hates me even more now, thanks to you."

Amy realized that there was nothing she could say right now, to make things better. Not wanting to makes things worse, she offered one last apology and then walked away.

Lou watched as Amy left. Blaming her sister, for making things worse, did not make Lou feel any better. A part of her wanted to run after Amy and apologize, but her pride held her back. Lou hated admitting when she was wrong. Surely, Amy understood the situation and would just let it go, at least that was Lou's hope.

She looked up the stairs, toward Georgie's room, and reconsidered going up to talk to her. "I'll probably just make it worse," she told herself, deciding to give her daughter more space. Then, looking at the tree, she remembered that Katie was waiting to finish decorating. As she started down the hall, her phone began buzzing in her pocket. She stopped to take it out and see who was calling, then decided to answer, "Hello?...What kind of situation?... Are you kidding me?...No, just wait for me, I'll take care of it...yeah, I'm on my way...bye." Lou put her phone back in her pocket and continued to Katie's room.

When she opened the door, Katie dropped an armful of stuffed animals on the floor and asked, "is it time to decorate again?"

Lou tried to smile, but found it impossible. "I'm sorry, Katie, I can't..."

"Why not?" the little girl wanted to know.

"There's a problem at the diner and mommy needs to go fix it."

"But, you promised we'd decorate the tree!"

"I know, I'm sorry."

"What's the problem at the diner?" Tim asked, "Maybe I can take care of it for you."

"I appreciate the offer, but it's a customer issue and, no offense, but you don't exactly have the best people skills."

"My people skills aren't that bad-"

"Dad, I'm sorry, but I need to take care of this myself and I need to go now."

"But, what about the tree?" Katie whined.

"It'll have to wait, okay?"

"You're mean!" Katie yelled and ran to her bed.

"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be mean," Lou wanted to defend herself.

"Don't worry, Lou, I'll talk to her," Tim promised, "but you need to get going."

Lou hesitated, she couldn't stand having Katie mad at her.

"Lou," Tim said, when she hadn't moved, "go on. It'll be okay."

Lou nodded and walked out of the room, gently closing the door behind her. This day just kept getting worse, and it still wasn't over.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10: A Special Surprise

Amy wiped her eyes, as she stepped off of the last porch step. How could her sister talk to her like that? She had only been trying to help, and telling Georgie about Vancouver was an innocent mistake. Maybe Lou was right, though, maybe she should just mind her own business from now on.

Amy was still replaying the argument in her head as she reached the driveway. She looked toward the barn and something caught her eye, something that made her feel a lot better, so she began running the rest of the way. Making her way around the blue truck, she smiled as she entered the barn. Then, running up the stairs, into the loft, she called, "Ty!"

"Hey! There's my beautiful wife!" Ty greeted her, as soon she stepped into their loft. He stretched out his arms and caught her, as she ran to him.

"What are you doing home, already?" she asked.

"It was slow day at work, so Scott let me have the rest of the day off."

Amy held her husband tighter, "This is the best kind of surprise and I really needed a hug from you, right about now."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

Amy stepped back, and explained, "I accidentally told Georgie that she'd be spending Christmas in Vancouver, and now she's mad at Lou for not telling her sooner, and Lou's mad at me, for making Georgie mad at her."

"I see...but I thought Lou had already told the girls about that."

"Yeah, so did I, but apparently she hadn't."

Ty kissed Amy's forehead and told her, "I wouldn't worry about it too much. I'm sure Lou will forgive you and everything will be fine by tomorrow."

"I hope you're right. I feel so bad for her and everything she's dealing with. All I ever wanted to do was help."

"I know," Ty said, pulling her in for another hug.

Amy relaxed in her husband's arms. "This is nice," she said, closing her eyes and just enjoying the closeness between them.

Ty smiled and whispered to her, "You know, I have another surprise that I think you'll like even more..."

Amy backed up, again, and looked at Ty, "There's another surprise?"

"Yup, and it's a big one," Ty told her.

"Well, what is it?" Amy was eager to know what he was up to.

"Before I tell you, though, I'm kind of hungry," Ty said, turning toward the kitchen, "I think I'm going to get something to eat, first."

"Oh no you don't!" Amy said, "you better tell me right now!" She grabbed his arm and tried pulling him toward her.

Ty freed his arm and continued toward the fridge, saying, "Do we still have any turkey? I'm thinking I'll make a sandwich."

"Ty, come on! Tell me what the other surprise is!" She would never admit it, but she actually enjoyed it when Ty did this. She was glad she had found someone that she could have fun with and who didn't take life too seriously.

Ty continued to get what he needed to make a sandwich, as Amy grew more desperate to find out his secret.

"You are so annoying," she told him, laughing, "but, I know how to make you talk." She began to tickle her husband, knowing of all his weak spots.

Laughing and squirming, Ty said, "Hey, I'm trying to make a sandwich!"

"Well, I'm not stopping until you tell me what the surprise is."

Finally, Ty turned and surrendered, "okay, okay, I give up- I'll tell you!"

Amy stopped tickling him, but kept her hands where they were, just in case. "So what is it?" she wanted to know.

"Alright, here it goes," Ty said, taking a deep breath and stalling a little longer, "the surprise is..." Ty paused and then asked, "Are you sure you want to know?"

"Yes!" Amy answered, playfully punching him in shoulder.

Ty was enjoying teasing his wife, "You know, you're really cute when you're frustrated," he told her, brushing her hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear. Amy glared at him, trying not to smile. Ty leaned in, to kiss her, but she moved out of the way.

"Oh no you don't," she said, "No kissing until you tell me the surprise."

"None at all?" Ty asked, trying again.

Dodging him again, she confirmed, "None."

Ty sighed and said, "Okay, if it's that important to you..."

Amy waited, not sure if he was actually going to tell her or if he'd continue messing with her.

"Do you remember when I promised that I would do anything for you and for our marriage?" he asked. He had become serious, intriguing Amy even more.

"Yeah... I remember..."

"Well, I wanted to do something special for the both of us. Like you said, we don't get a lot of quality time together these days. So, I talked to Scott and he agreed to let me have an entire week off, around Christmas."

"Really?!" Amy exclaimed, throwing her arms around her husband.

"Hold on, I'm not done," Ty continued.

"There's more?"

"Much more," Ty said, grinning, "I've booked us a cabin at this amazing mountain resort" he said.

"You did what?" Amy asked, in disbelief.

He pulled out his phone and began showing pictures of the cabin to Amy. "I know, I should've talked to you about it first, but I really wanted to surprise you."

"Oh, I'm surprised, all right."

"Just look at these pictures- the place is beautiful. And we'll have everything we need, like a kitchen and laundry, so we never even have to leave, we can just stay inside, just the two of us, nothing to do..."

"Hmmm" Amy was becoming more interested. "I'm sure we'd find something to do..." she said, nudging him in the side.

Ty laughed and then continued, "But if we do decide to venture outside, there's great winter activities. We could go ice skating on lake Louise or we could enjoy a horse-drawn sleigh ride." Ty sounded like a kid in a candy store.

"Ty, it sounds amazing. Are you sure we can afford this?"

"I was able to get a discount and I figure we could use the Christmas bonus, that I'll get from Scott, plus we have some in savings."

"I'm just not sure..."

"Amy, come on, we need this."

"Can't we just stay in our loft and not leave for a week?"

"You know that would never work. If we stay here, someone will need us, for something, and then we'll feel obligated to help out and won't get our alone time. But, if we leave and can't be reached..."

"Good point," Amy said, looking at the pictures again, "Okay, let's do this!"

"So, am I allowed to kiss you now?"

Amy laughed and nodded, "yes, you've definitely earned your kisses."

He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply and passionately.

Taking a breath, Amy said, "You better save some of that for our trip."

Ty laughed and assured her, "Don't worry, there's plenty more where that came from."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Dine & Dash

"Okay, I'm here," Lou announced, walking into the diner, "what's going on?"

One of her waitresses met her at the door and quietly began to explain the situation. "That girl, over there," she said, pointing at a young woman, "and the the little boy with her, ate a bunch of food, and now she says she doesn't have any money to pay the bill. We didn't know how you wanted us to handle it, so we asked her to wait and talk to you. She offered to work it off, but we didn't want to do anything without your approval."

Lou looked at the young woman, who looked to be about Amy's age, and the boy, who looked to be about four or five. Their clothes were baggy and wrinkled and, even from across the diner, Lou could see small tears and holes. The woman's brown hair was in a long, messy braid, over her shoulder. The boys hair appeared to need washed and cut, as well, and his eyes were hidden behind his bangs. Hudson was a small town, but Lou had never seen these two around. She certainly would remember them if she had.

Lou thanked her waitress for calling her and told her she could take it from here. She had enough to deal with right now and wanted to take care of this problem quickly, while making sure it didn't happen again. The diner was mostly empty, since it was still between lunch and dinner, and Lou was thankful she didn't need to make a scene in front of a bunch of customers.

"Hi, I'm Lou Fleming," she introduced herself, as she approached the the table where the two were sitting, "I own this diner. My staff has informed me that you can't pay for your meals, is this correct?"

The young woman looked up at Lou, but didn't answer right away. She put her arm around the boy and pulled him closer. The boy glanced up at Lou, then leaned into the woman and hid his face in her side.

The woman shifted her gaze to the diner entrance, then back to Lou. Finally answering, she said, "Yes and I'm sorry, I just-"

"You're sorry? I'm trying to run a business here, not a charity. Do you have any idea how much of my time and money you're wasting?"

"I can work it off, I'll wash dishes..." she offered.

"I'm already paying people to wash the dishes, I don't need your help. I need the money you owe, so I can continue running my business and taking care of my family-"

"Please, just don't call the police," the woman interrupted.

"Why shouldn't I?" Lou inquired, "You are stealing, after all, which is a crime." Lou was becoming more suspicious of the young woman. Were they runaways? Had she kidnapped the boy? Was she was using drugs?

"I know, I'm sorry...I won't do it again, I promise-" As she spoke, she lifted the boy into her lap, not taking her eyes off Lou, and the boy wrapped his arms around her neck, still hiding his face from Lou.

Lou saw that the boy's other cheek was bruised. Whatever their story was, they needed help. "I have no reason to be able to trust you and I cannot allow this kind of thing to happen in my diner." Lou pulled out her phone and began dialing the police.

As soon as Lou had entered the first digit, the woman suddenly jumped up from her chair. "Come on, Dylan," she said, pushing the chairs out of the way. As she tried to get around the table, Lou stepped in front of her. She quickly turned and went around the other way. Lou attempted to cut her off again, but she forced her way past her, almost knocking Lou over. As soon as she had a clear path, she ran as fast as she could for the front door.

"Hey, stop!" Lou yelled after her, regaining her balance and trying to finish dialing the number on her phone.

"I've got her," one of the the waiters called out, chasing the young woman out the door.

When Lou was finally able to get through to the police, she quickly explained the situation and they told her someone would be out to get an official statement from her. As she hung up, the waiter was coming back inside, out of breath, and he apologized for not being able to stop her.

"Well, thank you for trying," Lou told him. Most of the staff had now gathered around, to see what was happening. Lou addressed all of them, saying, "An officer is on his way, so please cooperate if he asks you any questions," everyone nodded, "Good, now get back to work, I'm not paying you to stand around." The staff returned to their jobs, but Lou could hear them whispering about what had just happened.

Soon, the officer arrived and Lou did her best to explain exactly what had happened. She told him how they couldn't pay for their food, about the bruise on the boys face, and how they made a run for it as soon as she started calling the police.

"Did you get their names?" the officer asked.

"No... oh, wait, yes..." Lou recalled hearing the boys name, "the little boys name was Dylan... I think."

"But you didn't get the woman's name?"

"No, sorry"

"A few days ago, a young woman stole some food and other items from the gas station. Witnesses said they saw her running off with a small boy. Unfortunately, we've been unable to find them."

"So, you think that's the same woman from today?"

"Sure sounds like it. Thank you, for reporting this. If you see her again, please give us a call."

"I will, of course."

After the officer had finished and left, Lou looked at her watch. It was after 5, and customers were beginning to fill the small diner. Lou's own stomach was feeling empty and she knew the others would be expecting dinner soon. She was too tired, from the day's events, to even think about going home and cooking, so she decided to just bring something home from Maggie's.

"I'm home!" Lou announced, walking into the house, "And I brought dinner!"

As she slipped her shoes off, she heard Katie's laughter coming from the living room. Lou smiled and thought maybe Katie would be in a better mood now, and no longer mad at her. She even heard Georgie laughing and hoped that her night might actually get better. Lou set the food on the kitchen counter and then headed toward the sounds of laughing and talking.

"Hey, you're back!" Tim said, just noticing the she was home.

Lou stared at her dad and the Christmas tree. "What are you doing?" she demanded to know.

Tim's smile faded, as he looked at the tree, then back at Lou. "Umm... we're just decorating the tree."

"Without me?" Lou couldn't believe her dad, he knew that she wanted to decorate the tree with Georgie and Katie. "Why didn't you wait?"

"I'm sorry, Lou, I tried, but Katie was insistent and we didn't know how long you would be."

"And you," Lou said, pointing at her oldest daughter, "you had no interest in decorating the tree earlier, but now you do? When I'm not here?"

"I just came down, looking for dinner, and Katie begged me to help." Georgie explained.

"We just wanted to surprise you, mommy." Katie added, "Don't you like our tree?"

Lou took a moment to swallow her pride. "It's beautiful, Katie," Lou told her, trying to hold herself together, "You did a great job."

Katie smiled at the compliment, then went back to decorating.

Lou no longer felt hungry, she just wanted to go to bed and be done with this awful day. "Okay, well I'm exhausted, and you obviously don't need my help, so I'm just going to head to bed."

"Lou-" Tim started.

"Forget it dad. What's done is done. I just want to be alone, okay?"

"Okay," he said.

"I brought home dinner, it's in the kitchen, so you can help yourselves."

"Finally, I'm starving." Georgie said, heading to the kitchen. As she passed Lou, she added, "I'm surprised you told us, instead of keeping it to yourself."

Lou turned and grabbed Georgie's arm, preventing her from going any further. "That is enough! I am your mother and I will not allow you to speak to me that way! Go up to your room right now!"

"What about my dinner?"

"You don't get any, now go!" Lou ordered her, pointing toward the stairs.

Georgie yanked her arm back, from her mother's grip, "This is so unfair!"

Lou held her ground, "Get to your room."

"I hate you," Georgie snarled, before finally doing as she was told.

As soon as Lou heard her door shut, she found the nearest chair and sat down. Burying her face in her hands, she let herself cry.

"Mommy, are you okay?" Katie asked, from the living room.

"Katie, I think you need to go to your room," Tim instructed his granddaughter. Katie did as she was told and Tim went and sat with Lou, at the dining room table. "Lou," he said, placing his hand on her back, "it's going to be okay."

"No, it's not," she said, lifting her face from her hands. "I can't do anything right, everyone hates me, and I feel like, since the divorce, my whole world has been spinning out of control."

"Come on, it can't be that bad."

"It is. It is that bad."

"Well, I don't hate you." Tim pulled his daughter toward him and allowed her to rest her head on his shoulder.

"Not yet," Lou remarked.

"Divorce is hard, on everyone, but your doing the best you can. Just hang in there, Lou, and things will get better, I promise."

"And if they don't?"

"They will. They did for me. Things haven't always been easy, but now I'm here with my daughters and granddaughters, and I couldn't be happier."

A small smile worked it's way through the tears. "Thanks for being here, dad."

"Anytime, Lou. I love you."

Lou hugged her dad, "I love you too."


End file.
